Brücke tools have been advertised last year heavily by the Finnish retail giant “Tokmanni” – on TV and Youtube. But in my personal option, they have stopped short in the selling process. Why? And how this plays into my blog & woodworking shed project, I will explain here.
Disclaimer
No company (especially not Tokmanni) or entity have asked me to write this post.
This is just an observation and thoughts. This post should point out how I, doing DIY for over 10 years, choose and research my tools.
Also this is in no way meant as negative criticism towards Tokmanni as a company, it’s employees or its products. It should just explain, one of my selection criteria when I buy tools. I encourage everyone to buy any brand they like or feel that is good, including tools from Brücke. I don’t think they are in
Where my purchase path (or “customer journey”) started
As said: There is a retail giant called “Tokmanni” in Finland. And I regularly go there to buy all kinds of stuff for my DIY projects. I think they are inexpensive, they have friendly and helpful staff and have a good selection of tools. All-in-all a trusted brand in my eyes.
But as I described in my post “My 10+ tips on DIY and woodworking“, one of my most essentials tools, my cordless drill died, due to battery damage from the coldness.
And because I’ve seen their commercials, I’ve checked out the Brücke Tools in one of their stores nearby. As I have explained in that above-mentioned post, that if you use a tool a lot (like in my case a cordless drill), you should invest in it some thought and time. And check if this tool’s battery can be used for other power tools from the same brand. This will entail that you buy battery driven tools from that same brand. Especially with my workshed project coming up, this is a constant thought.
Researching Brücke tools made a difference.
Therefore, when it’s a tool that I will use a lot, I might favor this brand out of necessity. But I do not buy any essential tool (even if I have selected a brand previously) without any research. This means I always read up on the brand, the particular tool
Something is rotten in the state of Germany…
The tools seem very sturdy and made an overall good impression in the shop. Though I would have thought that they should have propped them up more. For example, giving them more space, maybe some “in action” images. At the store I started searching online for “Brücke power tools” and “Brücke tools compared”. And because they were advertised as a German brand, I also search the German terms, “Brücke Werkzeuge” (tools), “Brücke Maschinen” (machines) as well as for their company “Brücke GmbH” and “Brücke AG”. All yielded no relevant results!
Brücke means “Bridge”
You have to understand, that Brücke is means literally “Bridge”. So there were a lot of misleading results. But it was weird: Whatever I tried, I couldn’t find ANY information about that power tool brand or its tools.
I even checked out the three biggest German home improvement supplies retailing companies. Obi, Hornbach, and Bauhaus. Nothing.
Also on Youtube were, besides the commercials, really nothing related to that brand. This is extraordinary for the fact, that they have been advertised for months. There are for example no comparison videos out there…
Back to Brücke Finland and Tokmanni
Searching with finish terms f.e. “Brücke työkalut“, I found mostly Tokmannis site, the Brücke Facebook page in Finish. Additionally, there was an online article from the Finish tabloid magazine Iltalehti, which clearly stated that this article is a “commercial cooperation” with Tokmanni.
Also on the Brücke product pages on the Tokmanni linked to
Where my purchase path ended
At this point, I decided that I will not investigate further and look into other brands for this type of tool.
I applied the above-mentioned research to other brands, informed myself then chose another brand, which had a lot of information on their site, reviews, videos on how to use the tools as well as information about the different battery types.
It’s in somewhat a
But due to the lack of information and the fact that the brand seems not to exists and is not German as they claimed, I felt that I’ve lost the trust for this “manufacturer”.
The takeaway
But again, I want to make this absolutely clear: I have NOT tested this brand and therefore can’t comment on is performance, durability or quality of their tools.
I encourage people, of course, to test this brand and tools and give me some feedback. I’d honestly love to hear it. Tell me what you like, and what you didn’t like so much. And what features are good. Also please tell me, if you can compare them to other similar tool brands.
All I want to explain here, that a complete product presentation is important! A serious power tool user should look into the details of each tool he/she buys if he or she is planning to use the tool very regularly.
Typical “store brand”, isn’t it? Like you won’t find“ PowerFix” tools anywhere else than Lidl, or for that matter Pirkka groceries anywhere outside the K store chain.
Good point. But for example Pirkka has detailed pages on many of their products, related content like recepies and related videos. I don’t say Brücke is bad. But due to the fact, that I couldn’t find more details, I chose not to buy them…
Lidls “PowerFix” and “Parkman” tools are most likely not bad, as they are for home users and are not used as often as some serious hobbiests would use them. For beginners they are usually also good. And at some point you may outgrow them. Which is perfect. Low investment, to get to know the tool or a method.
Hello. Im Portuguese and i live in finland. I have been using some brücke tools. And im pretty satisfied. I have no complains. I saw this blog because i was looking for brücke brand (again) on the web. My grass cutter bosh (expensive) died… it has been hard to get spare parts… i went yeasterday to get brücke grass cutter, and one of the main reasons was because they sell spare parts in Tokmanni (engine parts and wheels and really parts, not maintenace kits) so i know that if something happens i can just change something. I have had compressor from brücke for 2 years now and no problems. Price is good. Quality is not bad, like bulky heavy fxa for example. I think that it gives you some confidence when you buy a machine, to know that the same shop has spare parts for it available in the shelf also.
Thank you, i just wanted to share this as i think you r the only person i found on the web to whom i can do it.
Hi Sergio,
thank you for the comment. In general, I have nothing bad to say about the brücke tools. It’s just that they marketed them a lot, but then there is not many of details on their website and in the stores they are not much presented.
I myself bought 1 month ago an angle grinder from Brücke. I have used it so far maybe 2 hours, so far not much I can say about it besides that it works.;-)
My suggestion would be to have more product details, the manuals, and some video about each tool online to sell their store-brands better or give them the consumer a bit more confidence in buying these brands…
If you use google lens you can find same products with different names and colours on ebay or amazon. So Brucke tools are non-branded tools made in China that you can get much cheaper on AliExpress.